I need serious help

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Ace OfAllMedia

NEED SERIOUS HELP - I've bit off much more than I can chew running an online-based business whose transactions are processed via inbound calls, and not outourcing any part of it - nothing at all - taking it all on 100%..I sell access to listings of rent to own and preforeclosed homes as a monthly membership to my website...sales primarily take place via inbound calls responding to various ads...I from site creation to logo design to product sourcing, advertising social media accounting customer service sales webmaster duties affiliate management etc etc I handle all of it alone currently..and I could really use a JV partner (preferably one experienced in similar types of businesses - not necesarilly real estate related, but membership sites/inbound call center/related) to help this already profitable business really take off

I am just about to call a buddy of mine in California because I have a similar problem and he has a big call centre. So I can ask if he is interested.

If so how many calls are you taking a day and can it scale?

Thanks
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Ace OfAllMedia

7 years ago

It can EASILY scale - I actually have to be careful not to OVER advertise (at first I was missing way more calls than I was physically able to answer - started out at avg about 110 calls, 70 answered, avg talk time 7 min each (by myself, In addition to everything else involved in running the business) now have it down to roughly avg 60 calls/day, 55 answered, avg talk time 7 min, could easily scale up and surpass the orig call volume (which wasn't hard to achieve)

Thanks
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stanton

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Ace OfAllMedia

It can EASILY scale - I actually have to be careful not to OVER advertise (at first I was missing way more calls than I was physically able to answer - started out at avg about 110 calls, 70 answered, avg talk time 7 min each (by myself, In addition to everything else involved in running the business) now have it down to roughly avg 60 calls/day, 55 answered, avg talk time 7 min, could easily scale up and surpass the orig call volume (which wasn't hard to achieve)

Ok, i will ask my buddy although I have to agree with the Aussie that you are probably going to get much better quality staff with stay at home mum's all connected using a virtual pbx.

Just pay them per call completed and tell them that it might not work in the end.

Thanks

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Ace OfAllMedia

7 years ago

PS - I need help but don't have $ up front to hire people, so again looking for partnership/jv OR commission-based

Thanks

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Oziboomer

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Ace OfAllMedia

NEED SERIOUS HELP - to help this already profitable business really take off

So you are profitable but can't employ someone?

Maybe take someone local on?

There are plenty of stay at home moms who have time available whilst the kids are at school.

The trick is to interview them over the phone....never see them in person

You can find someone who has a great phone voice and many of these types are itching to earn some extra money and also look towards contributing in some way to society.

They can work from home so they don't have travelling expenses.

You could get someone who does 4-5 hours per day to just take the pressure off.

You can train them what to say and do and you can scale this by adding more people as you go.

Why would anyone want to partner up when it just sounds like work?

Best regards,

Ozi

Thanks
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Ace OfAllMedia

7 years ago

So you are profitable but can't employ someone?

yes, I take the prospect of hiring someone and having them depend on the paycheck coming from me very seriously, and therefore couldn't in good conscience hire someone unless I knew that I had a surplus savings "shtf" nest egg of a couple months worth of their pay set aside to ensure that they would be taken care of regardless of what could (yo unever know in this industry) happen financially

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Oziboomer

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Ace OfAllMedia

yes, I take the prospect of hiring someone and having them depend on the paycheck coming from me very seriously, and therefore couldn't in good conscience hire someone unless I knew that I had a surplus savings "shtf" nest egg of a couple months worth of their pay set aside to ensure that they would be taken care of regardless of what could (yo unever know in this industry) happen financially

That's exactly what I say to every new person I employ.

You can take the 100% commission route but if you pay some regular money on a casual basis you might find you get someone who is WAY AHEAD of the results you are able to achieve and soon enough you will be worried they wouldn't work for you.

Remember.

Systems work the business.

People work the systems.

Work out the system and find someone to help.

Tell them you can't pay them unless they produce results.

Take on an intern - hint - this is a very scaleable way to work.

Then you pay the best interns to stay on as employees....or freelancers...sub-contractors etc whatever suits your situation.

When you work to find some good people you can trust you can then grow and scale with less worry.

Trust me - I've been doing it for 26 years now.

best regards,

Ozi

Thanks

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Janet Nganga

7 years ago

Hi, I am Janet a stay home mum and I can do virtual assistant jobs for you like data entry, emailing, transcription. Thanks

[ 1 ] Thanks
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Oziboomer 7 years ago

Originally Posted by Janet Nganga

Hi, I am Janet a stay home mum and I can do virtual assistant jobs for you like data entry, emailing, transcription. Thanks

^^^^^^^^^ My point is illustrated almost immediately ^^^^^^^

Thanks Janet,

I was probably writing my response at the same time as you were making your offer.

Best regards,

Ozi
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tryinhere

7 years ago

Isn't there a warriors for hire or looking for help sections in the forum for this stuff ?

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TMets5 7 years ago

Certainly Warriors for Hire is great, possibly you could create an internship for a college age student or high school senior to learn about business and marketing. As your biz grows with the help you could put them on your payroll
Just a thought
Best of luck
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briancbk

7 years ago

maybe a dumb question, but why are you setting this business up to depend on you being on the phone? is there no way to automate the info, deliver to a membership site based on zip codes for a monthly fee or one time access fee? with all the tech available today, companies are going away from talking to customers on the phone, and going towards automation, text, chat, email, fb messenger etc.

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briancbk

7 years ago

you should only be on the phone for tech issues

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Ace OfAllMedia

7 years ago

Because a website can't rebut an objection... there is absolutely NO higher converting sales channel than over the phone or in person, a talented salesman presenting the product, answering questions and offering rebuttals to objections and CLOSING the sale....yes they can register on my site if they choose, however if you're relying 100% on people registering/buying without actually talking to someone you're missing out on 90% or more of your potential revenue....

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savidge4

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Ace OfAllMedia

Because a website can't rebut an objection... there is absolutely NO higher converting sales channel than over the phone or in person, a talented salesman presenting the product, answering questions and offering rebuttals to objections and CLOSING the sale....yes they can register on my site if they choose, however if you're relying 100% on people registering/buying without actually talking to someone you're missing out on 90% or more of your potential revenue....

I understand the logic... But I think I may be missing something as it pertains to your offering. I personally belong to 2 different sites that offer Foreclosure listings.. and guess what? never spoke to either of them. If you really wanted, you could look at ushud - free listings no less. But anyone that has looked, understands free listings suck.

I get it.. you are pulling those that are interested, and getting them on the phone.. hence the high closure rate. But as pointed out in the discussion, Just doesn't seem like a business model that can grow incrementally.

So lets look at an interesting method shall we?

Using facebook you can actually target "Likely to move"

using this you can super target the ideal client for your service. First by zip code. Second by Age, thirdly by income, and lastly fitting "likely to move"

Taking the same concept, the next step.. you could then integrate EDDM to a target Zip.. hit them with facebook, and maybe run a newspaper ad or 2 in the Sunday Real estate section.

The key to getting online conversions, is getting your offer in front of those that would be interested in it.

I personally could probably have this all up and running in a weeks time, Id probably sign up more subscription based clients, and never talk to a one of them.

At the end of the day it comes down to this... you can only talk to so many people in a day.. targeting as suggested above.. I could target different segments around the country 20 hours a day 7 days a week. ( and no, 20 hours isn't a typo - nothing good happens after mid night - so I wouldn't be advertising from 3am est to 7 am est )

My reach on a daily basis would be in the 1000's to 10's of thousands... depending on the incoming revenue - id probably need 3 to 5% conversion? Ill bet with your stellar close rate, it would still pail in comparison to 3% of 1000 ( 30 ) let alone 10,000. I will be honest here... I don't get 3% conversions very often with facebook... I'm more a double digits kind of guy.

And then there is the time needed between the 2.. hours a day for you.. maybe an hour for a web based model?

Thanks

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rritz

7 years ago

Without knowing anything about your business
Just these two lines break it down:

' I've bit off much more than I can chew '

' don't have $ up front to hire people '

You are at 100% workload and 0 disposable income.

Now you are looking to get a jv partner - won't this just double the pain?

Two people at 100% workload and 0 disposable income ...

Or you get an intern - even worse! You'll stay where you are and the intern will take the disposable income home.

That's the extreme scenario of course but as long as sales are dependent on your time spent on the phone there is only so far you can scale.
You only have 24 hours in a day.

Again I know nothing about your business but it seems to me that you could at least try to prequalify leads online and identify those unlikely to make you any profits. Push these over to a rent to own offer on maxbounty and maybe you'll make a few extra bucks while freeing up time that you would have spent on the phone with them.

Another thing ... Is your page. Taking a really very short look at it I can see perfectly why you may miss 90% of your sales if you're relying on it rather than your calls.

An effective page could take a ton of workload off your shoulders. I would probably invest my time in a really nice looking and optimized salespage - or hire someone, webdesigner and copywriter.
Try to make a page that outperforms your calls regarding sales ...

Then you really could scale

Thanks
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Ace OfAllMedia 7 years ago

I have to disagree with you there 100000 percent... Hispanic business of selling intangibles in subscription to information for almost two decades no nothing of reforms and talented sales rep actually improving the customer finding the hidden objection and overcoming it. No website could ever get close the conversion capabilities. But I digress

I sell access to listings of pre foreclosures hey rent to own homes... intangible service that I can and do resell times as possible and there's no cat on how many times I can resell it product i only have to buy one time.... giving my conversion rate on the phones having someone who is competent and experience handling the admin tasks therefore giving me a couple extra hours downtown would quite easily translate into double or triple revenues allowing their to be
Excess revenues to hire and train more sales people who in turn being commission-based would therefore in order to sustain employment be generating more Revenue England expansion to hire more sales reps Etc
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